The Glass Universe

How the Ladies of the Harvard Observatory Took the Measure of the Stars

By: Dava Sobel

Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell

Length: 12 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's Summary

Number-one New York Times best-selling author Dava Sobel returns with the captivating, little-known true story of a group of women whose remarkable contributions to the burgeoning field of astronomy forever changed our understanding of the stars and our place in the universe.

In the mid-19th century, the Harvard College Observatory began employing women as calculators, or "human computers", to interpret the observations made via telescope by their male counterparts each night. At the outset this group included the wives, sisters, and daughters of the resident astronomers, but by the 1880s the female corps included graduates of the new women's colleges - Vassar, Wellesley, and Smith.

As photography transformed the practice of astronomy, the ladies turned to studying the stars captured nightly on glass photographic plates. The "glass universe" of half a million plates that Harvard amassed in this period - thanks in part to the early financial support of another woman, Mrs. Anna Draper, whose late husband pioneered the technique of stellar photography - enabled the women to make extraordinary discoveries that attracted worldwide acclaim. They helped discern what stars were made of, divided the stars into meaningful categories for further research, and found a way to measure distances across space by starlight.

Their ranks included Williamina Fleming, a Scottish woman originally hired as a maid who went on to identify 10 novae and more than 300 variable stars; Annie Jump Cannon, who designed a stellar classification system that was adopted by astronomers the world over and is still in use; and Dr. Cecilia Helena Payne-Gaposchkin, who in 1956 became the first ever woman professor of astronomy at Harvard - and Harvard's first female department chair.

Elegantly written and enriched by excerpts from letters, diaries, and memoirs, The Glass Universe is the hidden history of a group of remarkable women who, through their hard work and groundbreaking discoveries, disproved the commonly held belief that the gentler sex had little to contribute to human knowledge.

©2016 Dava Sobel (P)2016 Penguin Audio

Critic Reviews

Named one of the best books of the month by Flavorwire, Bustle, Harper’s Bazaar, Real Simple, Refinery29, Men’s Journal, BBC, and The National Book Review

“Ms. Sobel writes with an eye for a telling detail and an ear for an elegant turn of phrase.... [The Glass Universe is] a joy to read.” (The Wall Street Journal) 

“Sobel lucidly captures the intricate, interdependent constellation of people it took to unlock mysteries of the stars.... The Glass Universe positively glows.” (NPR) 

“An elegant historical tale...[from] the master storyteller of astronomy.” (The Boston Globe) 

Edifying

I have enjoyed reading a number of Sobel’s books such as “Galileo’s Daughter”. This book is about the women who worked at the Harvard College Observatory in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They were called computers. After reading “Rocket Girls” and “Hidden Figures”, I know this is a term applied to women who did the math and analytical work for scientists. These women at the Observatory were math, physics and astronomy majors and some were Ph.Ds. These women studied, compared, classified and catalogued data about stars that had been photographed by male astronomers on glass plates. At this time women were not allowed to be astronomers. The women were assigned the work that demanded both scrupulous attention to detail and could be considered tedious work.

Edward Pickering and Harlow Shapley were directors of the Observatory from 1877 to 1952. These men were willing to hire women and even created research grants and academic fellowships for women via the patronage of two women heiresses, Anna Palmer Draper and Catherine Wolfe Bruce, who provided the funding. Some of the women Sobel presents are Williamina Fleming, Annie Jump Cannon, and Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin. These women’s stories are absolutely fascinating.

The book is well written and meticulously researched. Sobel reviewed diaries, letters and memories and included excerpts from these sources into the story. Sobel writes with clarity and has an easy to read style.

The book is approximately thirteen hours long. Cassandra Campbell does a good job narrating the book. Campbell is a stage actress, voice over artist and an award-winning audiobook narrator.

Not what I expected

Super dry... Fact filled.
Don't get me wrong, it was an interesting listen but I know nothing of astronomy and was looking for an empowering story about women. What I got was a very dry account of historical facts. Someone in the field would probably enjoy this history lesson a great deal

But the seeing, which was everything, was better

There's been a trifecta of great books about women in physics, astrophysics and astronomy in the last year. There's Margot Lee Shetterly's "Hidden Figures: The American Story and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race" (2016 book, 01/06/2017 movie); Nathalia Holt's "Rise of the Rocket Girls: The Women Who Propelled Us, from Missiles to the Moon" (2016); and now, Dava Sobel's "The Glass Universe: How the Ladies of the Harvard Observatory Took the Measure of the Stars" (2016). The time has come for these engrossing books and the brilliant women they portray.

Sobel's "The Glass Universe" shows that the old cliche that until Rosie the Riveter and World War II, all educated women stayed at home, relegated to perfect homemaking, an occasional Lyceum, and gossipy book clubs just wasn't true. These are great women, along with other greats like Colonel Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space; American physicist Dr. Sally Ride, the first American woman in space; and astronomer Dr. Vera Rubin, whose work in dark matter defines current astronomy.

Sobel's book is first in time, with the first astrophotography, in 1850. For decades, astronomers at various observatories around the world photographed the stars onto glass plates. They were analyzed and catalogued at Harvard. More than a century and a half later, those images are still being studied. In an expanding universe, with a science so vast that light studied doesn't reach us for centuries, how the stars looked like when Abraham Lincoln was president is important in the 21st Century.

Willamina Flemming, classifying for the Draper Catalogue of Stellar Spectra (first volume published 1890) established the star classification system OBAFGKM. The lyrically named Antonia Mary refined classifications, which were adapted by Annie Jump Cannon into the classifications still used today. In other words, these women were not "computers" laboring with pencil and paper over long, boring equations - anymore than the women in "Hidden Figures" and "Rise of the Rocket Girls" were. They quietly laid the foundation for modern astronomy and physics. Happily, there are a dozen more women whose lives are in "The Glass Universe".

I do have a complaint about the Audible version of the book: it's the appendices and explanatory footnotes. They contain a lot of valuable information, and a .pdf would have been very helpful. I wish I'd known to listen to the definitions portion and the list of people at the beginning of the book, rather than the end.

The name of this review is from the book, discussing a new observatory's location.

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A fascinating look at early scientific astronomy

In the mid-19th century, the Harvard Observatory began employing women as computers, to do the calculations that were the necessary next step after observations were made and recorded. It was considered inappropriate to subject women to the rigors of nighttime observation work, but there was no reason they couldn't do the essential mathematics. Initially, these women were often family members of the director or other astronomers, introduced to the field by their husbands, brothers, or fathers. As time went on and the demand for good computers grew, though, it became a field of science unusually open to women who were increasingly able to pursue formal scientific education.

That need grew in part because another woman, Mrs. Anna Draper, heiress to the Draper fortune, wanted to support her late husband's dedication to photographic study of the stars. Through her support, Harvard amassed half a million glass photographic plates, which could be studied in far more detail and precision than hand-drawn records that preceded them.

The women of the Harvard Observatory, whether wives, sisters, and daughters at the outset, or later, graduates of the women's colleges of Smith, Vassar, and Wellesley, or even, in one case, a former maid, Williamina Fleming, recruited by the observatory director, made major discoveries. Fleming discovered ten novae and over three hundred variable stars. Annie Jump Cannon developed the stellar classification system still in use today. Dr. Cecelia Helena Payne-Gaposchkin became not just Harvard's first female professor of astronomy, but also its first female department head.

They weren't just doing the boring, tedious stuff, as sometimes assumed now. They were doing ground-breaking scientific work, collaborating in what might now seem surprising equality with the men of the observatory.

These are fascinating stories, and well told by Sobel and well read by Campbell. In addition, this audiobook does include the sources, glossary, and other after-matter that are an essential part of the book, making pursuit of further information about any of the subjects that much easier.

Highly recommended.

I bought this audiobook.

Scientific and engaging

As an instructor of astronomy, I enjoyed the blend of historical science and storytelling. Sobel does an expert job of intertwining the development of astronomy from an visual survey of the stars to the application of physics and chemistry in studying their spectra. The story of women computers, researchers, and scientists is elegantly portrayed as their role in the emergence of astrophysics unfolds. Truly, I wish historical and scientific textbooks captured the audiences attention like this piece of writing does! Dava Sobel has become one of my favorite authors and I look forward to reading more of her work!

Cassandra Campbell's narration is wonderfully performed. Her rhythm and melody are perfectly suited for the turn of the century subjects of this story. A pleasure to listen to!

Wish it was more

Would you ever listen to anything by Dava Sobel again?

Probably not. This was the most boring book I have listened to. The topic sounds great, full of promise. Most of what the book includes lists of names, readings from journals and letters, and minutiae of labeling stars. No emotional characters. I can't believe I listened to half the book before quitting.

How could the performance have been better?

Can a boring book be read in any way but boring? The reading was monotone but the voice was nice enough to listen to.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

No responses can be elicited from a non-emotional book.

Wonderful story about amazing women!

Listen to multiple times. Enthralling story wanted more. Once again real life is better than fiction.